slimjim Posted September 11, 2017 Share Posted September 11, 2017 (edited) Tried this at the weekend. I am pretty confident it made the heat last a LOT longer. Although without a proper side by side test, I doubt I could prove it. Takes a lot less time than you think. Not sure if it should be called the OCD method or not. Although I prefer "The Hardacre Method" ... obviously! (My surname) Pretty much the same as the Minon method but much more organised, obviously. This setup, including a 1/4 of a chimney was a bag and a half of Aussie Beads. Lit at 10:30am, cooked a small Brisket, full rack of Pork ribs, four chicken breasts, four large jacket potatoes and a Ronnie Sunshine full of pit beans. At 10:30pm it was still RED HOT. At 9:30am the NEXT morning, it was still giving off heat. 47cm Webber Smoky Mountain Layer One - 3/4 bag of Aussie Beads Actually takes less time to do then you think. Rubber gloves on, took me about 10 mins to do both layers. Layer Two - 1/2 bag of Aussie Beads Could have mirrored the bottom layer but I felt like I was using too much fuel. Honestly I think I may have been able to get away with just the ONE layer (see lower down for the burn rate) Chimney - 1/4 full Tip it on.... and wait about 30-40 mins for it to 'catch' properly. Lots of food cooking Ribs and chicken on the top Grill Brisket on the lower Grill Ronnie Sunshine full of Pit Beans in the water Pan Foil wrapped Jacket Potatoes in the fire itself. Temps were about 250-270 the whole time. Pushing up slightly to 290 at the end to finish off the ribs and chicken. This lot came off at 7:00pm... At 10:30pm it was all STILL red hot!!!! Went to clean everything up at 9:30am the next day and 1/3 of the beads were STILL hot enough to cook on! (Directly anyway) Is this a new method? or have I just reinvented the wheel? Edited September 11, 2017 by slimjim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smokin Monkey Posted September 11, 2017 Share Posted September 11, 2017 Like the name "OCD Method" Wade is a massive fan of this method. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smokin Monkey Posted September 11, 2017 Share Posted September 11, 2017 Haha, can join the "OCD" club now! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slimjim Posted September 11, 2017 Author Share Posted September 11, 2017 Only thing I would say, is it seems to take a little longer to get settled in. i.e. getting it up to temp takes 10-20 mins longer than normal. But once it's in, it STAYS in. Long term. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wade Posted September 11, 2017 Share Posted September 11, 2017 Great post Jim - Yes it is certainly an OCD version of the Minion - LOL One of the problems a lot of people have is that they are not patient enough when it comes to getting their smokers up to temperature. Let it take its time and it will reward you with much longer smokes. I usually allow an hour to get my ProQ up to temperature although it is usually ready within about 45 minutes. At a couple of the UK smokers meets I saw people starting to get concerned when they were not at cooking temperature within 20 minutes and were blowing on the coals or adding another half a lit chimney. They are then surprised when they then had a problem keeping the temperature at the required cooking temperature without overshooting. I have done some temperature logging trials with this method and it is amazing how long you can cook on a very small amount of fuel Callow using 2 Kg Heat beads - Over 8 hours of cooking time Weber Kettle using 1.5 Kg Heat Beads - 6-7 hours of cooking time 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smokin Monkey Posted September 11, 2017 Share Posted September 11, 2017 57 minutes ago, Wade said: Great post Jim - Yes it is certainly an OCD version of the Minion - LOL One of the problems a lot of people have is that they are not patient enough when it comes to getting their smokers up to temperature. Let it take its time and it will reward you with much longer smokes. I usually allow an hour to get my ProQ up to temperature although it is usually ready within about 45 minutes. At a couple of the UK smokers meets I saw people starting to get concerned when they were not at cooking temperature within 20 minutes and were blowing on the coals or adding another half a lit chimney. They are then surprised when they then had a problem keeping the temperature at the required cooking temperature without overshooting. I have done some temperature logging trials with this method and it is amazing how long you can cook on a very small amount of fuel Callow using 2 Kg Heat beads - Over 8 hours of cooking time Weber Kettle using 1.5 Kg Heat Beads - 6-7 hours of cooking time Wade, is this how you set a Weber 57cm up with the "Minion Method"? On a serious note, can we have one of your Tutorials for this in the Methods Section? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wade Posted September 11, 2017 Share Posted September 11, 2017 Rather than piece together old photos I will put together a new guide over the next couple of days if the weather stays fine. I can do this now I am retired - 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
valve90210 Posted September 11, 2017 Share Posted September 11, 2017 How is the retirement going? Missing the place yet? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wade Posted September 12, 2017 Share Posted September 12, 2017 9 hours ago, valve90210 said: How is the retirement going? Missing the place yet? The place... not in the slightest - except for a few of the people Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slimjim Posted September 12, 2017 Author Share Posted September 12, 2017 (edited) More time for smoking I hope @Wade ...? The world needs more of your smokes! I have been very VERY lucky to sample all sorts of goodies from this Magician. Nuts, Cheese, Salmon, all sorts of meat. Plus the infamous "Best Pit Beans In The World" ..... All amazing, tasty yet perfectly balanced flavours. Edited September 12, 2017 by slimjim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
valve90210 Posted September 12, 2017 Share Posted September 12, 2017 30 minutes ago, Wade said: The place... not in the slightest - except for a few of the people I can imagine, there's a lot that I won't miss when I leave here (which will probably be in about 30 years time...) 23 minutes ago, slimjim said: More time for smoking I hope @Wade ...? The world needs more of your smokes! I have been very VERY lucky to sample all sorts of goodies from this Magician. Nuts, Cheese, Salmon, all sorts of meat. Plus the infamous "Best Pit Beans In The World" ..... All amazing, tasty yet perfectly balanced flavours. Amen to that!! Wade is the person that got me into this world of BBQ/smoking etc by bringing in a few sample of bacon and ribs and the like!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martyn Catanach Posted September 19, 2017 Share Posted September 19, 2017 On 12/09/2017 at 9:25 AM, valve90210 said: I can imagine, there's a lot that I won't miss when I leave here (which will probably be in about 30 years time...) Amen to that!! Wade is the person that got me into this world of BBQ/smoking etc by bringing in a few sample of bacon and ribs and the like!! You guys sound like police officers .... LOL Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thesmokinbishop Posted October 8, 2017 Share Posted October 8, 2017 On 9/11/2017 at 6:49 PM, Wade said: Rather than piece together old photos I will put together a new guide over the next couple of days if the weather stays fine. I can do this now I am retired - Hey Wade Interested to know how you do this in a kettle, I've been using the snake method for longer smokes, but interested in other options. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smokin Monkey Posted May 15, 2018 Share Posted May 15, 2018 On 9/11/2017 at 6:49 PM, Wade said: Rather than piece together old photos I will put together a new guide over the next couple of days if the weather stays fine. I can do this now I am retired - @Wade, did you get round to doing this? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wade Posted May 17, 2018 Share Posted May 17, 2018 No I didn't ☹️. I will try to do it over the next few days... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grandadfatboy Posted April 7, 2021 Share Posted April 7, 2021 I can see this thread is over 3 years old, but is there a reason why I can't open any of the pictures? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wade Posted April 7, 2021 Share Posted April 7, 2021 I think that during one of the forum software updates they changed the way that the photos were stored. I am sorry that some of the old photos are no longer available but it is something that is out of our control. If you have any in particular you are interested in then we can try to upload them again (or similar). Or we can restart a new thread. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grandadfatboy Posted April 8, 2021 Share Posted April 8, 2021 Thank you Wade. It would have been great to see the photos to better understand the post. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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